Comcast Will Pay Hundreds Of Thousands In FCC Fines

Comcast has agreed to pay an $800,000 fine and continue offering
a standalone, affordably priced broadband service through at
least Feb. 15, 2015 under a consent decree with the
FCC, the agency said Wednesday.

Under the terms of the decree, the requirement -- which was
originally included as a condition on FCC approval of Comcast’s
acquisition of NBCUniversal last year -- has been extended by one
year. The condition requires Comcast to provide a standalone
broadband service with a download speed of at least 6 mbps for no
more than $49.95 a month.

In a news release, the FCC said the agency investigated Comcast
after receiving “information suggesting that Comcast was not
adequately marketing its standalone broadband services.”

“Today’s action demonstrates that compliance with commission
orders is not optional,” FCC Chairman
Julius Genachowski said in the release.

“Comcast has incorporated the extensive commitments and
conditions from the NBCUniversal transaction into the DNA of our
business practices, including the commitment to offer standalone
broadband Internet,” Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice, a
Comcast said in a response.

“As is often the case with services associated with government
orders, the FCC had questions on how the service might have been
rolled out in a different or even better way,” Fitzmaurice added.